»I wouldn’t worry about it, you’ve still got a great pair of legs« – Masculine Habitus, Blokishness and the Office Culture in UK Newsrooms

This paper explores the office culture in UK newsrooms by looking into intra-organisational informal practices such as social interactions, banter, and organisational culture. Cultural masculinities in media organisations were analysed using the blokishness approach and Bourdieu’s theory of habitus, and the paper explored whether only women who demonstrate masculine behavioural and communication patterns succeed in fitting into organisational culture. Twenty qualitative interviews were conducted with women working in the media in the UK. Ten editors and ten journalists were interviewed. Triple coding (open, axial, selective) was used to code the data, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the results. The findings show that women perceive masculine habitus in newsrooms, which is perpetuated through gendered social interactions and banter, patriarchal office culture, glass ceiling, and blokishness as a recipe for success. The socialisation process is linked with behaviour, communication, and experiences in newsrooms. Women perceive media organisations as discriminatory, exclusive, and non-appreciative of their work; however, this perception is present among women who demonstrate what is commonly known as feminine characteristics and who were socialised with girls. Women who were socialised with boys and who demonstrate what is commonly considered a masculine trait in communication and behaviour report fitting in and being one of the boys, both groups of women signalling that the perception of acceptance and power in the organisation comes from the ability to fit into informal intra-organisational practices such as social interactions and banter.